20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About Marvel

Beyond writing an all-time classic with The Godfather, Mario Puzo is also responsible for Superman, one of the first great superhero movies. He helped pave the way for the entire genre, so it’s a great irony that he could never quite write comics himself.

Well before he had his big break, Puzo had been writing freelance, doing anything from editing to writing for men’s adventure magazines. Since Marvel was owned by the same publisher as one of those magazines, he managed to connect with Stan Lee. Wanting to make some more money, he asked Lee if he could try to write a comic script.

Lee recounts that Puzo claimed he could write a whole novel before he figured out how to script a comic. Whereas Puzo himself says the reason he never followed through was that he got an advance to write a book before he could ever really pursue comics. Either way, it’s interesting to imagine what such an acclaimed writer could have done with a stay in the medium.